| Wellington |
[18 Feb 2006|01:35pm] |
Break began yesterday. I am staying 45 minutes outside of Wellington with Heather and Erika. We have free housing with the organizer of an anti-road project. The government is trying to build a highway by the sea, so traffic will not be as congested going into the city. Auckland is the largest city in New Zealand, followed by Wellington (I think). There are only 4.2 million people in New Zealand, so this highway is pretty unnecessary considering that many people take the train into work (this option is cheaper than driving for most because of the expensive gas prices). Yea, so Erika is going to stay five days with us, and then stay in a hostel in the city with Katharina. Heather and I will stay until next weekend, and then stay in a hostel so we can party more. I'm getting my haircut at Jam this Tuesday!
This vacation timing is perfect. We are only a couple hundred feet from a beautiful beach and sea, which we swam in with our host (father?) yesterday. His age is very ambiguous because he seems maybe early thirties sometimes and others early forties. Last night we went to Zeno's birthday dinner at an expensive restaurant. Wine, campagne (sp), and beer were free. It was completely ridiculous, but I guess the Goldsmiths are wealthy enough.
We were at Tongariro (or something like that) National Park this past week, and it was extremely isolating, but I read quite a bit. Jess, I got your picture letter yesterday, and it was amazing. I was laughing extremely loud on the bus. Hahah, Freezepop! Then of course, I was extremely sad the rest of the bus ride. I know you said I wasn't missing out on much in Boston, but I'm not so sure about that. Who was the blond girl in the picture with you and Courtney, and one photo with Su, Raja, and Courtney? I need to respond to emails about housing for this next year, but I will hopefully be online frequently this week. Tonight Heather, Erika, Katharina, and I are going out to dinner with Adele and her parents.
|
|
|
[14 Jan 2006|01:26pm] |
|
Well, I am in Pune (3.8 million population), but this is just the weekend. Adele and I are spending the night here because we are all at a farm an hour away where all students live in the same room. It is hell more than a little bit. We will be splitting into two groups for field trips. I cannot put much more in here because this computer won't let me makethis private. I won't have internet access again until next saturday or sunday. Lilli, jocelyn give me your addresses for the semester. Miss you all sooooo much.
|
|
| addresses to send mail/postcards |
[10 Oct 2005|06:16pm] |
10.07.05 - 11.04.05
IHP c/o Peter Bunyard
Lawellen Farm
Withiel, Bodmin, Cornwall
PL30 5NW BRITAIN
11.05.05 - 12.09.05
IHP c/o Fatma Alloo
P.O. Box 20027
Dar-es-Salaam, TANZANIA
12.10.05 - 01.27.06
IHP c/o Smitu Kothari
Intercultural Resources
S/2, DD8 Nehru Enclave
Kalkaji Extension
New Delhi, INDIA 110019
01.28.06 - 03.17.06
IHP c/o Peter Horsley
134 Atawhai Road, PB 11-222
Palmerston North 5301, NEW ZEALAND
03.17.06 - 05.09.06
IHP c/o Gustavo Esteva
CEDI
Azucenas 610-A
Col. Reforma
Oaxaca City, Oaxaca 68050 MEXICO
|
|
|
[06 Oct 2005|01:09pm] |
I am leaving for England in an hour!
Someone else needs to use the internet now, but I will update sometime this next week. I am sorry that I didn't get a chance to really do individual emails, but I will be writing you guys letters that I will put online!
Missing
|
|
|
[28 Aug 2005|09:14am] |
| [ |
music |
| |
The Fox - Sleater-Kinney |
] |
On the day the duck was born
The fox was watching all along, he said
Land-ho
When he saw the duck
Land-ho
And the duck saw him too
-Sleater-Kinney
I only have three days left here! I'm not counting Wednesday because I leave early in the morning. Ahhh! I should be at Jess' place around 2pm on Wednesday. This means 8pm Czech time, but still! I haven't been doing much other than reading Harry Potter again and reading the essays for my IHP homework. It sucks. Some of the essayists admit to being cultural relativists. Ughh. They say there should be no universal values, and that people should not interfere in others' cultures. They are against everything that has to do with development, but I think development has done some good things like allowing people access to clean water or giving women voice in society. The essays took me a very long time to read because I had to put them down frequently out of frustration. I just hope others on the trip don't completely agree with them.
|
|
| My name is Bart |
[25 Aug 2005|05:43pm] |
Mike said excitedly, "Because to say a thing is just to state a fact. If I say, 'My name is Mike Mulvaney' I'm saying a whole lot less than I know about myself, right? It's impossible to say who I am [italics], where'd I begin? - and where'd I end [italics]? So I wind up saying my name."
P.J. said, "that's true about any statement we make isn't it? We never tell as much as we know."
"Right! So we're lying. So almost every statement is a lie, we can't help it."
From We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates
Did I already write this quote out? I think it is beautiful.
|
|
|
[12 Aug 2005|12:23pm] |
So Lilli and I went to Club Stella (a gay bar) last week and ended up talking to this obnoxious guy with a mohawk (Keith). Lilli for some reason gave him our number, but it didn't matter because we thought he didnt call.
That night we also met Kenny (incoming sophomore at University of Washington State) and Joe (incoming freshman at NYU) his boyfriend. Lilli and I went to Club Stella again with Joe and Kenny, and this creppy bald man came over to us, put his hand on Lilli's knee, and talked to her for a while. He started saying something about racism in Czech Rep., and he pointed to Kenny using him as an example of "queer eyes," "Chinese" (Kenny is half Korean). Kenny flicked him off and was mad, but then the guy started saying stuff like "oh, don't worry. I love queer eyed people." He was trying to not be racist, but it was offensive still. Hahah, whatever.
Bob, Lilli, Kenny, and I went back to Club Stella again (Joe went to Montenegro (sp)), and Lilli fell asleep on Bob, so they went home. Kenny and I started talking to this other creepy Czech bald guy who was sitting next to us and who kept on staring at us. He was a "videographer," "photographer." He told us that he made two Czech music videos, and that he had a website of his photography of the male nude. So /he's really a part-time pornographer. Not artistic guy. Well, Kenny fell asleep on me and seemed really sick, so I asked the guy if he knew of a Non-Stop (like a Store 24) near the bar, so we could get Kenny bread. He brought us to one, and then brought us to Kenny's tram stop to get home. As soon as Kenny left, he asked, "So, would you like to havea [yes, "havea"] the sex?" He was thirty and gross. Hahah. He gave me his number to think about his proposal with a clear head.
So last night Bob (who missed his flight yesterday), Lilli, Emily, Elsa (Lilli's classmate in Czech class last year), Kenny, and I went to Radost FX, which is a really good vegetarian restaurant. Emily and Elsa talked in French quite a bit of the time, so it was really annoying because no one could understand them. Bob and I were quite laconic. Ahh, so afterwards minus the French people, we went back to our apartment because we forgot to shut the window. Lilli and Bob just went to bed, and Kenny and I went to Club Stella again.
We saw Keith there and felt awkward, but we just looked away. He came over to us late in the evening really drunk and was very agitated. He said that he messaged Lilli's phone, but never got a response. I told him that we did not get a message from him, and he retyped the number into his phone, and it showed up on the number that he said he messaged. Well, after he left, three guys next to us shared a joint (Kenny doesn't smoke though). We ended up talking to one of them for two hours or so. Hahha. I wish you guys were here. I've gotten a lot more confident talking to people and not taking their shit. Lilli has really helped me with this because she nevers takes people's shit when she's drunk. I spoke some German with the one guy, and he made fun of Czechs a lot because he is Slovak and thinks Czechs have no sense of humor. And they don't.
|
|
|
[04 Aug 2005|11:38am] |
Ahh. So much has gone on since the last entry. Bob was in London this past weekend, and some of his friends - Leila (his ex), Leslie, and Ian - came to visit him this week. Tuesday night we went to a punk bar and then to a music venue that plays different music every night; we came on a rap night. Lilli and I were quite drunk when we got there to meet them. Leslie was really nice, and I talked to her most of them time, but yea...Ahhh.
Ok, I'll describe last night instead. So they all were supposed to come to our apartment for crepes at 930 but didn't come til 1030, and they acted just like they were in their own homes. Leslie talked to Lilli and I, Ian just never talks, and then Leila and Bob only talked to each other. Or, Leila dominated Bob. They made out on Monday night after we left, but Lilli and I guessed that it was just because she set herself up in opposition to Lilli. Lilli left early from the bar we went to, and I had talked the whole time to Leslie because she was nice, but Leila turned away from the rest of us and made it very exclusively her and Bob. They somehow got on women bands, and Bob and Leila said that women didn't rock, and I yelled at them "Women fucking rock. Shut the fuck up." Leila responded, "I'm sorry, but women just don't. Why do you think we go for men? Because they do." I got soooo mad and said that she was wrong and that if you use her logic then women must rock because lesbians are attracted to women. Bob then made some comment on lesbians not really existing, and Leila concurred. I got really mad and left then and told them they were being really offensive.
I'm just soooo mad right now because Bob was just really rude to us the whole night. When he came in, he opened the refridgerator and offered his friends our wine. We didn't have much left, and yea, it's not a huge deal, but it was rude. And his friends wanted to take Absinth shots, but I said to get me a beer instead because I was already really drunk, and they were going to have a round of beers after the shots. Bob still ordered me an Absinth shot, and then when the beers came, the bar only had five of the beers that I wanted left, so Lilli and I ended up having to share one. Well, because of course everyone picked up one except me and Leila, but I chased the Absinth shot with the one beer on the table, and she then said "Oh, is that yours." She wanted it, and I didn't want to be mean, so Lilli offered to share hers with me. Goddamit.
I'm just so homesick right now. I got an amazing package in the mail from Jess with goldfish, cheese Munchies, cheesy pretzel bits (my favorite!!!), cheese chex mix, peachy-o's (!!), gummi bears, DJ Black, a really cool shirt for me, and a shirt for Bernal:) I miss you guys so much.
Ahhhh. My mother is sooo annoying too. She doesn't want to pay for plane tickets out of NYC because its cheaper from Boston to Canton, Ohio. So she wants me to go to NYC (to get visas), back to Boston, Canton, Boston, and Chinatown bus to DC. I want the extra Boston time, but I just hate all this bus stuff. Jess, would I be able to stay with you more?
|
|
|
[29 Jul 2005|08:32pm] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Can't Stop - M83 |
] |
Lilli fucking rocks.
Last night Emily, Bob, Lilli, and I went to this awful bar opening because Emily saw this duschbag that hit on Lilli at a club, and he invited her and us. Ahhh, it goes so far back. But this guy Brendan was hitting on Lilli at a club, and I was talking to a lesbian, who thought that Lilli was hot, but she thought Lilli was into Brendan. No, she was not. That was three or four weeks ago, and Brendan was talking about the bar he was going to (and just did open), so Lilli asked him where he got the initial capital. She pried him, and he (sort of) admitted that his parents gave him the start up. He was so fucking lame that the lesbian and I were immitating him because he was only pretending to be interested in what Lilli was saying, and one could see that he just kept on looking for points to talk himself. Dusch dusch. Anyway, it was funny because I could tell that Lilli was not interested in anything he was saying either, but unlike him, she did not want to see him anymore.
All the people at the bar were awful. It is called Eight, and it was originally supposed to be a pool bar, but they could only afford one table, so they decided to make it into a Zen bar, and flip the Eight on the side to look like infinity. So Zen bar means uncomfortable wooden benches on wheels. Ughhh. Well, we spent a ridiculous amount of crowns on drinks...Then it became funny. Lilli went to the bathroom, and she came back infuriated. The bathrooms were labelled "Us" and "Them," and Lilli decided to go into the Us bathroom because as she said "I felt like an Us tonight." The guys in the bathroom pointed her to go to the other bathroom. She bitched out Brendan, and some guys nearby said "Man, shes totally ruining her chances with him." They did not get it. At the end of their conversation, I moved over to them to try and get Lilli away because Bob and I wanted to leave since we got there. Brendan asked, "I guess this means you probably wont be coming back to my bar to buy drinks." Lilli said something about bringing a notebook to record information, and he asked the question again, so I yelled at him, "Theres no fucking way we are coming back to this bar." There is much more to the story with Lillis conversation, but I dont remember all the particulars, so yea.
|
|
|
[27 Jul 2005|05:12pm] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Obsessed with the Excess - Les Savy Fav |
] |
Well, yesterday I finally got my haircut. I went to a British upscale chain, and when I sat down in the chair, the hairstylist asked me the last time I got a haircut, and when I told her March, she freaked out and got a friend, who translated what kind of haircut I wanted. Then I went into the shampoo chair and got a boner from the two strong muscular hands. When he was finished giving me the best shampoo in my life, I saw that he was hot, even though he had white male capris on. The hairstylist gave me a Eurosexual (how Lilli calls it) haircut. My hair is a lot less thick though, which I needed.
Lilli and I have gotten into a habit of waking up, smoking, and listening to music until 11 or 12. This means that Lilli skips part or half of her class. She only has it a couple more days though, so oh well. We sing along to Neko Case, Cat Power...
This is kind of a lame entry, but I have a package that I need to pick up! I guess I shouldnt be too excited about picking up homework from IHP, but whatever. Its a package!
|
|
|
[24 Jul 2005|05:29pm] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Lady Pilot - Neko Case |
] |
Some bad news. I had not seen the grease monkey suit for a while, and it was even cooler than I remember it because it is one used at the race track (all leather with a valvoline symbol on it), but it was also 240US. Lilli bought a pair of Diesels though. Hahah. We have added "shop shop" to our vocabulary with "club club." Lilli definitely made a little bit shop shop.
Joce, tell Su to check out Lillis lj because she dedicated a poem to her. Its not dirty, but yea.
Jane and Melissa, we need your addresses, so we can send you our drunk letters. We sent Su, Joce, Courtney, and Jess all drunk letters to Jess' address.
Bob, Emily, and Lilli forced me to go out last night after three previous nights of drunkenness. Emily started up with a little bit Raffi on the way home from the last bar. Good times. Bob has given us a lot of good music, so we make a little bit dance party before we go out and then when we come back. Bob is a regular guest on our third bed.
I tried quitting smoking yesterday but failed by the night.
Lilli makes a good point about not quitting because it was an icebreaker to meet a guy at a club on Friday. I hope Lilli will still remember how to immitate this awful song that we heard at both gay clubs. It sounds like a bird whistling or something. Horrible, horrible. But Lilli can whistle it perfectly. Bob says he was too drunk to remember it from the first gay club we went to. Oh, Bob. When you say Bob, you have to say it with a sort of Southern accent because hes from southern Indiana and has an accent.
We went to a grocery store that caters to Americans, but a box of brownies cost 7.5US. The oven we have only has high and low settings though, so we would not know how to cook anything in it. Oh, limited to the stovetop. Bob, Lilli, and I are all very excited to get back to the States. I call it the "Land of Dryers, Cream Cheese, and Cheap Internet." Oh, cheesy snacky food!!
|
|
|
[20 Jul 2005|04:41pm] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Tired - LCD Soundsystem |
] |
Today, I went to a vegan grocery store and bought some fake meat, so I can finally get some protein other than from nutella.
Also, Lilli and I bought some peanut butter today at the Tesco. It looks kind of gross, but who knows. We may go shopping for clothes later because I have been eyeing this grease-monkey one piece suit now for three weeks. It may be sixty dollars, but it may (as in "will") be worth it. We are going to an expensive (coded: six dollars for a dinner) Indian restaurant tonight.
I'm jealous reading about all your smoking and other drug experiences. Our only drug is alcohol, and we drink *almost* every night. On the bright side, Lilli and I have become chain smokers (ok, more me than her, but still).
Lilli is supposed to be online now to decide on when/where to meet to get the grease-monkey suit. But she is not.
|
|
|
[19 Jul 2005|04:26pm] |
Well, Mrs Dunn (Lillis mom) sent the credit cards FedEx Thursday last week, and they came yesterday. It kind of sucks though because my credit card does not work, so I have to use my moms, and she'll be able to see how much I am taking out.
I forgot to mention in here that my Uncle Eugene (the one who had to get toes amputated because he had no circulation from his weight) died a week or two ago. I feel kind of weird because I dont really feel too much about it. I have not seen any of my relatives since my high school graduation early June two years ago. My parents and brother watched him as he died, and my mom said he was talking about me in his last few minutes. I know I make fun of all of my family, but it isnt with malice. I did not particularly like this uncle either, so I feel...weird.
Lilli and I read We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates, and in one part, two of the characters discuss how we always tell lies. Saying "I am ___" is a lie because one is more than that. We can never fully explain how something is, so we always lie by omitting the truth. I hope that makes sense? I just do not how to explain the weird that I feel about my uncle's death or whatever.
|
|
|
[18 Jul 2005|12:22pm] |
| [ |
music |
| |
From Blown Speakers - New Pornographers |
] |
Boston sounds amazing from Joce's ljs. Lilli, Bob, Emily, and I went to this trendy vegetarian restaurant/bar on Friday night and got sooooo wasted. These creepy guys next to us (one Australian and one Slovak) started talking to us and hitting on Lilli and Emily. They were really nice to me because (as Lilli later told me), Lilli told them in Czech that I am gay. That meant I was no threat. They were not nice to Bob. The Aussie told Emily that Lilli and her had to get used to 30+ men hitting on them. Ewww. There is a club downstairs at this place, and women got in for free, but guys had to pay eight dollars. The gross men kept on trying to get us to go to the club, and they went down without us. I went to the bathroom before we left because Lilli felt sick, and the Aussie was down there and offered to pay for me to get in because I told him that Bob and I didnt want to pay eight bucks to get in the kind of lame club. No offer for Bob. I just left quickly though.
Bob spent the night again on our extra bed.
Saturday night we didnt get out until 1:30; Lilli, Bob, and I went to this nasty gay club. All the men were 25+ and really bitchy looking. They had this guy walking around in very small shorts (accentuating a not so small member) serving people watermelon on a tray. The drinks were ridiculously priced compared to any other place we had been here, but we did two rounds of tequila shots and danced. Well, Bob wouldnt dance because he hated the techno. Hahah. So this weird gay guy (although at first she thought he was hitting on her which I negated, reasoning that no straight man would be there or be wearing sunglasses underground at 230). He asked her if I was her boyfriend, and she said that we were just friends and asked something about him liking guys (at this time he was grabbing her finger acting like he wanted to suck on it).
Him: I hate men.
Lilli: Well, then this is the wrong place for you isnt it?
Him: I guess that means I should be going.
Lilli: Yes. I think so.
Watermelon guy was hot though. Today we have someone coming to fix our washer!
Tomorrow I should be getting my credit cards! Hopefully they will work.
Oh, and on the street Lilli went up to some random people to ask for directions, and it turns out they were at both Smog and Le Tigre (we remembered one girl from the bus ride back from Le Tigre because she was fucking obnoxious). The obnoxious girl goes to Wesleyen (sp) where Bob goes. I think we all might be going to some concert tomorrow?
|
|
|
[12 Jul 2005|02:54pm] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Fur Soft As Fur - Boy Least Likely To |
] |
Well, Lilli and I moved into our new apartment yesterday. It is right across a park in town notorious for daytime heroin use, but I guess if we ever need an afternoon fix...
Lilli and I have been using so much Cortizone creme for our allergic rashes that she was saying that we could join them in tourinquots after raiding a doctors office for cortizone shots.
Our new apartment has a gramaphone, a crank record player, and lots of other kitschy stuff. It really is hilarious, but the apartment building is kind of scary because our neighbor is an office, and no one else is on our floor. The whole building is eerily silent.
Tonight we are going to see Les Georges Leningrad, a Canadian punk band, with Bob Hammond. We've been hanging out quite a bit with him, and he and I have been pressuring Lilli to get drunk with us every night.
I need to go grocery shopping now because I really have not eaten today, and its 2pm...and we are going to get wasted tonight for the concert so yea. Hahah.
|
|
| phone |
[01 Jul 2005|01:28pm] |
|
Lilli has a phone now. Her number is 728 852 610. Im not sure what the country code for the Czech Republic is. Jess can you post that thing about the cheap internet phone that Jerry knows about on here. Its free for Lilli to receive calls, and if that internet thing is cheap enough, I would gladly be willing to pay half of whatever.
|
|
|
[01 Jul 2005|01:05pm] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Poison Oak - Bright Eyes |
] |
Hahha. Well, I got a Western Union transfer yesterday, and my credit card arrives Monday at Lillis Aunt Evas house which means that I have to stay there until 8am until it arrives (at the latest 7pm). At least Ill be able to get money again. Okay, so two entertaining stories...I hope
So we saw Le Tigre on Tuesday night, and we met these two American girls on the bus ride over, and they were pretty cool and are both going to see Smog tonight with us. Cat Power used to date someone from Smog. Hhahahh. Anyway, there was this hot guy standing next to us at the concert, so I started talking to him when I noticed that the cigarette he was smoking was really a joint. He shared three joints with me!!! Ok, and he took away the joint from one of the girls (Christina who is bi) we met after she smoked one hit. Lilli and the other girl, Lilly, did not get any hits. So I was like, hmmmmm, good sign? Le Tigre, only smoking me up, alone....But as like the last Le Tigre concert he was a straightie. My luck is improving though, as instead of dating a best girlfriend for three months he smoked me up!!
Ok. So Tesco is this sketchy supermarket (worse than Starmarket!!!). The other day I had twenty rolls (three cents each), nutella (three dollars), and a two liter bottle of wine for one dollar and fifty cents. The bill comes up as about 35US so I argue "Ne" (no) to the clerk because thats about all I can say in czech. She kept on saying yes and was screaming at me, until she checked the receipt and had charged me for 20 wines instead of rolls. She didnt know how to use the phone to call her manager, so she just left for five minutes, and she came back with her boyfriend, who she started making out with in the checkout line, while he grabbed her boobs. To the others in line, it seemed like a normal event. They made out until the manager came four or five minutes later. Oh, Tesco. I think Im going to go there now to get the comma seven rolls.
|
|
| ... |
[29 Jun 2005|01:58pm] |
|
My credit card for some reason is not working now, so I am borrowing money from Lilli to get online and whatnot, so I will not be writing ljs or responding to emails until I get money...
|
|
| Address in Prague |
[27 Jun 2005|08:55pm] |
c/o Dr. Eva Hamatova
Molitorovska 8
10000 Praha 10
Czech Republic
|
|
| navigation |
| [ |
viewing |
| |
most recent entries |
] |
| [ |
go |
| |
earlier |
] |
|
|
|
|
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
daseismann's journal